The Seven Noble Families
by albernes Maedchen
Summary: This story has to do with the past and how it can be used to change the future. Harry tries to rebuild the future for the better of the wizarding world. Time Travel involved.
1. A Tale as Old as Magic

**A Tale as Old as Magic**

Once upon a time, many years ago, there lived a wizard by the name of Merlin. This Merlin had many adventures, and he is today known as the most famous wizard to have ever lived. He served the great and just King Arthur with his Knights of the Round Table, often lending his counsel to the good king of Camelot.

However, the king had a deformed half-sister named Morgana, an evil sorceress, whose only goal in life was to see her brother dead so that she could ascend the throne that she considered rightfully hers. One of her plans to achieve this was to conceive an heir with her half-brother, so her son would be able to claim right to the throne, and through him, she could become the queen of Camelot. However, in one of her attempts at this, her magic crossed with the wizard Merlin's magic, and they became ensnared by each other's magic, causing them to conceive a son together, one that Morgana kept hidden from the world out of shame. Not even Merlin the wizard knew of this child, this Maine Pentdragon.

It is this child who started our story, for without this son of Merlin and Morgana, neither of us would exist, my son.

This boy grew up to be a very powerful wizard, with the power of two such powerful parents coursing through his veins. He ruled a land near the land of Camelot, as a noble to the great Arthur and his descendents. He eventually married, for he desired a son to carry on his legacy.

Unfortunately, it took several years for that son to appear.

His first child was a daughter, whom he named Agatha. Fair-haired and gentle, she married into a French family in an effort to secure an alliance with the family. The Malfoys welcomed the beautiful witch and agreed to the alliance; however, they would be the first to betray the Pentdragons.

His second child was also a daughter, whom he named Margaret. A raven-haired minx, she married into a family who had served as one of the Knights of the Round Table. The Blacks spent a good amount of time persuading Maine Pentdragon into this arrangement and eventually just kidnapped Margaret, unaware of her status as a witch.

His third child was again a daughter, whom he named Andorra. Born to a new wife, this daughter had both a fiery head of hair and temperament. She fell in love with a commoner, while shopping one day and soon became a Potter. Maine Pentdragon nearly disowned her for her poor judgement, but his second wife begged him not to and took her daughter's punishment herself.

His fourth child, much to his chagrin, was a daughter, whom he named Tai. An exact copy of her mother, she had the face of an angel with white-blonde hair and demeanor to match. At this point, Maine Pentdragon had taken to drinking and gambling to conceal his pain over not yet having a son, and most of his money was gone. He married Tai into the Greengrass family because they had plenty of money to spare and paid much for his angel.

His fifth child, as he was coming to expect, was a daughter, whom he named Morgen, after his mother because he believed that she had somehow cursed him, and he wanted her attention. However, all he got for his actions was a deformed daughter, whom he gave to a low-class magical family because no one else would have her. The Bones family took care of her.

His sixth child was once more a daughter, whom he named Millicent. Bright and powerful, she married into the Shade family, a magical line that Maine Pentdragon searched for for years, so his daughter's abilities would not be wasted.

It seemed as if Maine Pentdragon would never see the day where his son would take his place, and he fell into a deep depression. His wife grew very concerned, and she contacted her daughters, Tai and Millicent, to come up with a plan.

Together, these two ventured through the lands, searching for their paternal grandmother, who they also had long since had suspected of cursing their father for existing. They found her on her deathbed after several months of traveling, and they begged Morgana to end this curse on her son. Morgana, seeing how beautiful and powerful her granddaughters were, admitted that she had no idea what they were talking about, but she agreed to help them and put the last of her life into a potion that would help their mother conceive a male.

Overjoyed, the girls headed back to their father's estate... only to find that their father had killed himself. Feeling that it was their fault for taking so long, the girls considered throwing the potion off the top of the highest tower, until they discovered their mother had conceived just before their father died. She drank the potion willingly, and nine months later, a son was born.

Altair Pentdragon grew into an honorable wizard. With the help of the families of his sisters, he created the order of the Seven Noble Families. These families were meant to protect the magical world and train newcomers to the ways of magic. The families were also meant to keep each other in check to prevent any one family from gaining too much power, and children were swapped between families for marriages, as well as bringing in new blood from other families. For many generations, this worked out quite well.

That is, until the Malfoys moved out of France because of the Wars of Religion. They begged land from the Pentdragon heir of the time, and being a good nobleman like his forefathers, the wizard split his own lands and gave land to his kin.

Nearly a hundred years passed, and this kindness was soon forgotten. The new Malfoy head of house attacked the Family of Pentdragon as well as the Family of Shade for helping them, murdering all of those who carried the names. Both families were forgotten over time, and the Malfoys became more powerful. The Family of Black became their powerful ally, while the Families of Potter and Bones fought against them. The Family of Greengrass worked to settle the disputes between the families, but to no avail.

Now, these families have all but forgotten one another, but their connection still holds strong.

"But father?"

"Yes, my son?"

"How can the connection still be there with two of the families gone?"

"That, dear Harry, is something to discuss another time." Harry's father tucked him into bed and went to blow out the small candle by the door, but he stopped as he heard his son's voice.

"Father, is the bad man going to come get me tonight?"

Mildly alarmed, his father leaned in close to his son's bed, "No, son, the bad man will never hurt anyone ever again." He blew out the small flame and shut the door most of the way before walking down the short hallway to his room, which was almost as cramped as his son's.

He sat on his bed and thought. His son had never before asked him that question about the connection before; he shouldn't really be surprised. He had told his son this story many times over the years, and he supposed that eventually a question like that would come along. He just didn't think his son would only be eight when he asked it.

Of course, he already knew the answer; he just wasn't sure how to go about changing it, but he knew it would be able to be changed this generation. This generation would be the pivotal point to changing the British wizarding world for the better.

He picked up a compact mirror off the set of drawers beside the bed and stared into his reflection deeply. His vivid green eyes, inherited from his mother, stared back at him. Hopefully, it would be a while yet before his son realized just how very similar the two of them were.


	2. Meeting Mister Shade

**Meeting Mister Shade**

"Look, James," he heard Sirius start, "You've got to take better care of yourself." He sighed at the use of his father's name and the continued deceit of his godfather. "No, I'm serious, for Harry, you've got to eat more and," he floundered a bit, "shower more too."

They were sitting in a smoky pub in central London, both wearing Muggle hoodies and Manchester United insignia, as it was the day of some big day between that team and their rivals. This was one of several locations where they occasionally met up while Harry was at school.

'James' took a swig of his lager and looked at Sirius intently, "Have you found out anything about the two families yet?"

Sirius closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat to get comfortable, "Aside from that I know it's going to be two Muggleborns, or who people think are Muggleborns, I recently discovered that both lines are still in Britain and should be about Harry's age."

James pulled out a notepad and replied, "Okay, then we still only know five of the seven heirs. Draco, Cygni... hey how is Cygni, by the way?"

Sirius cocked an eyebrow at his best friend, "About time you asked. She is doing just fine, and so is Maggie." James made a strange noise at the mention of Maggie, but Sirius ignored it; he knew how James felt about his wife. She was rather loose, but a paternity test had confirmed that Cygni was his daughter. "We're planning a big celebration for her eighth birthday party," Sirius said casually, "I'm inviting you and Harry again –"

"You know we can't come, Sirius. We're still in hiding."

"Hiding from who? You destroyed the Dark Lord, remember?"

"There are still those loyal to him," James reminded ominously. "I just don't think it's such a good idea."

"Because you don't trust my wife."

It was such a simple statement, but it ended the conversation they'd been having instantly.

"Anyways," James restarted, "There's Draco, Cygni, Harry, Daphne, Susan, and..." he sighed again, "I feel like their names are just on the tip of my tongue, like I should know them, innately."

"I know how you feel, Prongs; I'm an heir too after all. Anyways, I've got to get going. It's my turn to watch Cygni today after school." Shaking his head slightly at the strange marriage Sirius had, James bid his friend good-bye and continued to drink his lager, intent on figuring out who the other two children would be.

Just then, his pager went off (something he kept while in the Muggle world), notifying him that someone was waiting in the park across from where he lived. Both intrigued and slightly worried, he paid his tab quickly and Apparated away once out of sight of the Muggles.

He saw the stranger and knew him immediately. He wasn't sure how, but it was something natural. He approached him cautiously, wary after all he'd seen in his life.

"Can I help you?" he said to the stranger. He had dark skin with crinkles near his eyes from a lifetime of smiling.

"I see you got my message. The name's Shade, Jerrell Shade. I've heard you've been looking for me," he said with a smile.

"I thought your family had died out," James responded questioningly.

"Hardly. Unlike the Pentdragons, we're just very good at hiding. Though, my brother and I were the last ones. Perhaps we should speak somewhere more privately?"

"I have to retrieve my son. You're welcome to join me, if you wish."

"Of course," Shade said, as they strode out of the park.

They made it to the school just as it was letting out. James saw his son and waved slightly.

"Hey Dad!" he exclaimed, hugging him tightly.

"Hey, kiddo! How was school?" he asked but never got his answer, as Harry had begun to stare at the stranger beside his father. "Ah, Harry, this is Mr. Shade. Can you say hello?"

Politely, Harry extended his hand and said, "Hello, Mr. Shade."

"It is very nice to meet you, young Mr. Potter," Shade said pleasantly.

They walked back to the small apartment that the two Potters called home. James told Harry to go ahead and get started on his homework and sending him off to his bedroom before motioning to Shade to sit at the kitchen table.

"So, you said you wanted to speak privately," James prodded.

"Yes," Shade started, "My brother and I were Unspeakables with the Department of Mysteries. He disappeared several years back, and it is my belief that he was killed by Death Eaters or Voldemort himself." He paused, collecting his thoughts. "I never knew my brother to have a child, but it would only make sense, because the nobility power did not come to me after he disappeared, and it still has not come to me. The only reasons for this would be that he was still alive, or he had an heir, and if he was still alive, I would hope that he wouldn't have hidden from me all this time."

James nodded, "I understand, and you want to help finding this child?"

"I believe that with just a bit of my blood, you can enchant some object that will alert you to his presence, if he is near."

"You know of a charm that will do that?" James asked, somewhat skeptically.

"Not just, I invented a charm that will do that," he stated matter-of-factly.

James leaned back in his seat, wondering just how powerful a wizard this Shade was; he was an Unspeakable, and that spoke volumes, but to invent a charm that would be able to enchant an object to see how close someone's blood was, James just couldn't even imagine.

"You could show this to me now?"

Shade smirked and replied, "Why yes, of course. If I may?" he asked, pointing at James' glasses.

James pulled off his glasses, paying special attention to make sure that his contacts were still in place.

"Unfortunately, only another heir can find the child, which is why I found you," he said casually, tapping his wand in various places on James' glasses. There were tiny lines of light connecting each tap to another. "It's been a while, but I finally put most of the old tale together. Checking out a few different leads, I realized you were working towards the same goal."

"Dad! Dad! You won't believe what these guys are doing outside!"

Instantly on guard, James swept into his son's room with Shade right on his tail. Peering carefully out the window, he saw three men, all in black cloaks. One was holding a slowly spinning stick, no wand, James thought apprehensively. As he continued to watch, his heart nearly stopped as the wand slowed to a stop, pointing directly at their apartment.

"Oh shit." And the apartment exploded around them.


End file.
